Characteristics and Causes of the July 2023 Extremely Torrential Rain in Beijing
Based on the data of automatic weather stations in Beijing region,complementary rain gauge sta-tions of Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources,dual-polarization radar and wind-profiling radar as well as the GPS data and ERA5 reanalysis data,we analyze the spatio-temporal characteristics,and causes of this July 2023 extremely torrential rain in Beijing.The results indicate that the accumulated precipitation and intensity of this event were significant,with an average accumulated pre-cipitation of 331 mm and maximum precipitation 1025 mm at a single station,both of which broke histori-cal records.The maximum hourly rainfall of 126.6 mm·h-1ranked the second in history.This rainfall process can be divided into five stages,of which stage Ⅱ and stage Ⅳ of the rainfall accounted for 37.1%and 39.7%of the total process,being the primary phases.During stage Ⅳ,the corresponding jet stream intensity got much stronger,and the characteristics of high temperature and high humidity were more ob-vious.Terrain had a significant impact on the increase in rainfall.The rainfall increased most rapidly in the region between 100-300 m above sea level,and the maximum value appeared near the areas approximately at the altitude of 400 m.The average accumulated rainfall and maximum hourly rainfall in mountainous ar-eas were 2.1(3.0)times and 2.0(2.7)times that of the plains during stage Ⅱ(stage Ⅳ),respectively.Stage Ⅱ was primarily influenced by the direct terrain lifting of low-level jet,while stage Ⅳ was character-ized by the combined effect of terrain lifting and blocking convergence.On the morning of the 31(stageⅣ),the coupling of the boundary layer convergence at the terminus and the low-level divergence at its en-trance led strong ascending motions,promoting the massive β-MCS to develop into a linear shape accompa-nied by a meso-γ scale vortex.This β-MCS propagated northward along the western mountainous regions,forming a short train effect and triggering the short-time extremely severe rainfall over 100 mm·h-1 at eight stations.
the July 2023 extremely torrential rainterrain effectlow-level jetmesoscale convective systemmeso-γ scale vortex